The ins and outs of the story are well explained by the Australian’s Steve Creedy here, but the bottom line for Hogan and Rigney is that their business plan has been validated at the highest level and been found to be gold-plated.

The message is that this move proves Etihad is not a state-subsidised carrier, but a valid business with a robust corporate governance framework and a balance sheet that can withstand the closest scrutiny.

Hogan and his finance team have been grilled in Washington by the US Ex-Im bank and more recently by Europe’s Export Credit Bodies as to why their airline should obtain their guarantees for loans that will finance a lot of Boeing and Airbus airliners.

And they got the green light, which hasn’t always been the case for every carrier from the region of late.

The ability to raise such serious cash in a market that is supposed to be tight is tremendously significant for Etihad.

And it will mean the airline’s borrowing for these aircraft will quite simply be cheaper than if it went purely to the commercial market.

Hogan held a dinner at London’s glitzy Dorchester Hotel to celebrate the announcement of the deal.